July 17: Fabian Delph performs a U-turn and moves to Manchester City for £8million after previously rejecting a switch and declaring he would stay at Villa having signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract in January.

July 23: Christian Benteke joins Liverpool for £32.5million after 49 goals in 101 games for Villa.

August 8: Rudy Gestede's debut goal gives Villa a 1-0 opening-day win at Bournemouth - they fail to win in the league again until January.

September 13: Villa blow a 2-0 lead at Leicester to conceded three times in the final 18 minutes and lose 3-2.

October 25: Tim Sherwood is sacked following a 2-1 defeat at home to Swansea, having lost 16 of his 28 games in charge.

November 2: Remi Garde is appointed Sherwood's successor on a three-and-a-half-year deal and watches his new side lose 3-1 at Tottenham to slip to the bottom of the Barclays Premier League.

November 26: Garde confirms he dropped Jack Grealish from the first team after the 20-year-old was pictured partying in a Manchester nightclub hours after a 4-0 defeat at Everton.

January 9: Villa squad and boss Garde are mercilessly abused while boarding the team bus following their 1-1 FA Cup draw at Sky Bet League Two Wycombe.

January 12: Garde secures his first win, and Villa's first league victory for 157 days, with a 1-0 triumph over Crystal Palace.

January 14: Steve Hollis, a former chairman of auditors KPMG, is appointed at the club's new chairman - replacing owner Randy Lerner.

February 1: The transfer window passes without Villa making a signing. Garde felt let down and disenchanted by the lack of backing - a key factor in his exit - after failing in moves for Seydou Doumbia, Wahbi Khazri and Mathieu Debuchy.

February 14: Villa's season reaches a new low when they are thumped 6-0 by Liverpool - their worst home defeat for 81 years.